GM Taps Mary Barra as CEO

General Motors named Mary Barra as its first female CEO, replacing Dan Akerson, who will retire next year. WSJ’s Joe White joins MoneyBeat. Photo: AP.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... and ... general Motors for the first time in more than one hundred year history ... will name the female to leave it merely better off was for more than thirty years at the auto maker started on the act ... will be named CEO succeeding current CEO Dan Akerson ... who is retiring beginning in January The Wall Street Journal's Joe White has the details of today's news ... Joe ... is pretty big piece of news ... yes it's a big business in a ... note that I mean what was a surprise that the dam the Dan Akerson were leaving the Sims Cleary was to be leaving this year ... of yesterday the government finally got out of GM one hundred in the U S covering God of GM on so they have been at this moment ... of and yes it's the it's the new is the new new GM me this is this is the end of one year of the bailout era and the start of something you know and and they're they're obviously ... you know it's a historic moment because she's a woman by the more important thing is what is she going to do with this opportunity that's been handed or ... right and thus far ... been ... wanting to get this job ... while her ... well ... why tells me she's not a flashy personality how but what she has what she has donned an apparently done it to the board said satisfaction and indexes satisfaction ... she's been working for several years to try to make sense of the of the tangle that has been GM so vehicle development process worldwide ... and I were starting the season for its of of of her effort on the cars like the new Impala which it which look ... much better than a lot of GM cars looked in the past ... of better engineered lor cos ... I think what what you're seeing is is is a judgment that she's figured out how to streamline ... of art and GM that was not at all streamlined or efficient in the past and make it and make it work better and others that are common in Italy that part of me ... yet ... the new cars I think the new cars look really nice the Impala I think was very nice to love the Camaro course ... on the redid the Corvette they read a redone all apart to revamp everything ... I assume she was part of that ... sore now we'd all we note that four were going to see a company ... that sort of them ... to use the pun I guess ... you know is what has all the school and is lined up ... well I did I end in the mean that's the goal I don't think the NYT area and frankly in some of that with a statement saying they don't claim to be all the way there yet ... of that they're still lot of work to do a GM to support to really to really crank up on the potential in this company ... but I think it's it's pretty pretty fair to say that the married Mary Bera and another winner to today think Dan Ammann the CFO now gets his present of the company has more operating responsibility ... um I think there's a there's a sense that they've got the right formula the right vision for for really making GM ... you come through in twenty oh they're still ... their profit margins are still not the level of four of our company and a lot of areas and has the guts of work to do there yet ... she's been here is that its first win at the company's ninety started in Pontiac ... skyline history with GM ... what what is she going to create with GM with refers to the challenge ... well you know what I what we've taught our little the issue field prior to today on issues pretty careful not to not to act like the she was the CEO of reply one reasons why she got the job just got a keen sense of diplomacy ... but but I'm you know the vision that the ... division but the idea that she talks about other people in leadership to talk about is getting GM function is one ... company ... when the company was basically assembled through acquisition in the in the early part of twentieth century in for the longest time it didn't act like one cup he didn't get the economies of scale ... she clearly is has been driving that in purchasing any and product development and I think the question is can she really ratchet that often and get other people to keep the work of ... and not do when she and did a lot during her time ... that the company which is ... illegal to profit on top of what Obama boards and they can settle back a sale everything is ok ... not everything's not okay ... it's better ... but there they got some pretty vicious competitors out there starting with the one in Dearborn and there that I work to do an alright job like great great stuff think you're a much ... based on